Sunday, October 31, 2010

Well I see the military jury at the kangaroo trial of Omar Khadr has dropped its pants, squatted over a hole in the ground, and...um...delivered its symbolic sentence.

And no doubt given Stephen Harper a warm fuzzy feeling and/or a woody.

Omar Khar was sentenced today to 40 years in prison for murder, terrorism and spying by a military panel unaware that the confessed Canadian war criminal had agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence capped at eight years and the chance to return to Canada after one more year in Guantanamo.

By sentencing Khadr to FIFTEEN years more than even the war criminals at the Pentagon had demanded. Even though he almost certainly killed no one, and the only reason he was singled out for prosecution, as I explained in this post.

Was so the Pentagon could lower the bar of justice and international law so much, they could do ANYTHING to ANYONE.

So now all I want to know is when can that jury and that Stalinesque court be arrested for crimes against a child soldier? And what is the Harper government waiting for to demand that Omar be brought home IMMEDIATELY?

For that barbarous sentence only serves to prove beyond all doubt that the trial was a travesty.

"Everything about Omar Khadr's ordeal at Guantanamo Bay over the past eight years has been a fiasco," Mr. Neve said. "It comes as no surprise that the sentencing phase and this stunningly punitive jury decision has so starkly highlighted the injustices of this process."

And sentencing him to spend another year, in a maximum security section of that hideous gulag called Guantanamo, is an abominable act of cruelty and judicial torture.

Oh well. I'll have more to say about this in the days ahead when I'm not so angry. But tonight I just want to pay tribute to the extraordinary strength of that young Canadian, who has been victimized by just about everyone.

His own family, the Taliban, the Pentagon torturers, two Canadian governments. And abandoned by so many of his own people.

But although he is still riddled with shrapnel and blind in one eye, has somehow managed to endure, and is by all accounts a decent and gentle guy.

I also want to salute Khadr's defence team, Canadians like Dennis Edney, as well as the members of the U.S. military, who criticized their superiors and their own government to stand up for the rule of law.

“Al-Qaeda uses kids, they had radicalized him,” Col. Jackson said, reminding the panel that Mr. Khadr is considered internationally to be a “child soldier,” a victim, rather than a combatant who can’t, under United Nation’s protocol’s be held accountable for war crimes.

And by so doing tried to save the honour of their country. Unlike their weak and cowardly President.

The verdict of history will be harsher on Obama, and Harper, and all the others, than today's abominable sentence was on Khadr.

And what else can you say eh?

Except that for Canada the shame will last FOREVER.

And that NOTHING will ever change the truth. Omar Khadr was a child soldier.

Ford not only won, he smashed his opponents and was declared Toronto’s mayor within eight minutes of the polls closing.

The chattering classes are claiming this was because the white, angry, male and suburban people voted for him. Some did. But it takes more than that to win.

What these liberal dinosaurs refuse to grasp and are too insecure to accept is ethnic Toronto is conservative. Smitherman is gay and speaks of his husband. Many Muslims, Tamils, West Indians, Africans and others responded with an electoral “not our values.”

Or there weren't other troubling signs that immigrants are making this country more conservative.

And the the Cons weren't trying to harness those retrograde attitudes and use them to get a majority.

But I am still hopeful that won't happen in Toronto.

Because I think that in a city as diverse as this one, even the bigot immigrants will soon come to realize, that the Cons are not their friends. And that if they set fire to the social fabric the flames will consume us ALL.

Besides most of the young immigrants are on our side. So Coren can crow all he wants. But the battle for Toronto is not over, it's just beginning.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

I don't know about you eh? But I find the weird story about the Rob Ford campaign and the fake tweeter really creepy.Not just because of this:

The Twitter account was the work of the deputy communications director of Rob Ford's campaign, Fraser Macdonald, and was created with one purpose in mind: getting the whole recording of a conversation between Dieter Doneit-Henderson and the candidate, in which Ford promised the fibromyalgia-afflicted man that he would "fucking try to find" OxyContin for him.

But also because of the level of deception. The amount of work that went into it, the buried messages.

And of course, this picture...

Which only makes me REALLY want to know who paid for this homophobic Tamil radio ad.

Because it seems to me that it achieved two objectives. It reminded people about the Tamils migrants who Ford had attacked.

In a city where anti-migrant feeling is higher than any other place in Canada.

And it reminded people that Smitherman was gay. Just a few days before the election.

Subtle eh?

You know the right-wing media is so busy blowing Ford they seem to be ignoring the role racism and homophobia played in the election.

But I'm not convinced. I still believe both issues helped give him a landslide.

And now that I see the kind of people who are pulling the Pig Man's strings.

I have a feeling Rob Ford's Toronto could become a REALLY scary place...

Well it sure has been a scary week. Who needs Halloween when we got Rob Ford?

Because now reality is setting in. And all over the Greater Toronto Area you can hear them screaming: Oh. My. Fordzilla. What have we done !!!! AAAAAAAAAH !!!!

Although I see the Toronto Sun managed to find somebody to put a positive spin on those low expectations.

Dismissed by opponents as unpolished at best, short on policy and often wrong on the numbers, Ford now enters office without the burden of high expectations, veteran fundraiser and campaign organizer John Capobianco said.

“(People think) he’s a buffoon, he doesn’t know his stuff, he can’t get anything through council,” the source said. “Expectations are low. We’re in a good spot.”

Great eh? Does that mean if the Fordzilla stays sober for three days, he'll EXCEED my expectations?

But it isn't all bad news.You know those downtown latte-sipping elites that the right-wing media has been turning into The Enemy, just like Stephen Harper does?

To chalk up widespread disapproval of the message he and his supporters sent – that streetcar tracks should be torn up, that downtown voters are objects of ridicule, that a Toronto mayor should endorse the view that gay marriage erodes democracy, that the inability or unwillingness to explain one’s beliefs to voters doesn’t matter – as nothing more than condescending elitism is to almost completely fail to grasp not just “urban sophisticates” but an entire cohort of Canadians...

Most of the country’s supposedly clueless urban elites are not disconnected from the “real” world. They are from it...For one reason or another, they choose a different life.

There are any number of reasons. Some are attracted to urban living, where everything is within range of transit or bicycle. Some want careers that can only be pursued in cities. Some are gay and have bad experiences. Some realize their world views don’t quite mesh with those of all the Rob Fords they know.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

From where I live, on a late fall afternoon, the city of Toronto looks pretty damn beautiful.But of course, what I'm looking at is the REAL Toronto, not the Frankencity the Con thug Mike Harris, and his little stool tool Jim Flaherty created.

You think maybe there’s a cultural divide going on here? It’s no surprise that Ford’s support was concentrated outside the boundaries of the original city of Toronto, but the starkness of the division is startling to see. In essence, Toronto is two cities that don’t like one another much but have been forced to cohabitate. And who performed the ceremony? Yes, Mike Harris.

Gosh. Big Hog Mike as Rob Ford's porky daddy. Isn't that a scary thought? You add up both of their IQs and you still get dumb bully or thug buffoon.

You know as I said the other night, I'm a Montrealer eh? So I could look at that map and the pink zone where I live, and think OMG what have I done? Who knew I'd end up playing Davy Crockett at the Alamo? Gimme a train ticket quick !!!!

But actually, it only makes me proud to live here. A city where white, black, brown, straight, gay, young and old, rich and poor, or whatever live happily together. And Cons are DEFINITELY not welcome.

You know every progressive in Canada should be proud of the REAL Toronto, the bastion of real Canadian values. The little but mighty fortress that Stephen Harper will NEVER conquer. And the Pig Man will NEVER rule.

But look, if I'm going to play Davy Crockett at the Alamo we're going to have to change the ending eh? In my version WE win, and the porker ends up as bacon, next to the Harper ham. Or just another loser.

The small crowd at Esther Shiner Stadium proved they were up on their current events.

“Gravy train, gravy train,” mocked the Chaminade fans.

In the meantime, on a late fall afternoon, looking across at the REAL Toronto all I can say is this...

(click pic to enlarge)

Hey beautiful... it's me... Simon.... from Montreal. Look I don't know how I ended up living in a fortress under siege.

But I'm REALLY glad I'm here to help defend you. The Cons will not pass.

Now all I need to know is if we can't win back the angry teabaggers in the suburbs.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

And sadly even some progressives seemed to have succumbed to post-election guilt.

“We urban-dwellers need to get our asses out of the downtown core from time to time and listen to what people are saying in the suburbs.”

But not me eh? The only thing I regret is that we lost. Because the fact is the election of Rob Ford is a disaster for this city. And the guy is a reactionary jackass.

Rob Ford: You know, I'm the only one that can go down there [Inaudible, then, yelling:] Just go get changed! Go! Out! And get changed! Don't worry about the water right now. [Pause.] Sorry.

Carol Off: Well you know that your campaign has been compared to Mike Harris's Common Sense Revolution, to the Tea Party movement, do you see those comparisons?

Rob Ford: I don't see [inaudible] comparisons [inaudible] what, I don't care [laughs]. I just, I just know, know the taxpayers, uh, want, uh, you know, the gravy train to come to an end, and that, uh, Rob Ford's the guy to do it, and uh [inaudible]—

That's a Mayor of Toronto? Gimme a break.

A man whose victory was fueled by racism and homophobia. A swaggering bully who has put down people with AIDS. A callous freak who says if cyclists are killed by cars it's THEIR fault. A grotesque windbag who is always apologizing for being drunk.

A man who has attacked the homeless.

Who in case the right-wing media don't know, also live downtown. And DON'T drink lattes.

Nah. I've got a better idea. Instead of deluding ourselves into thinking it could be a good thing. Or apologizing to suburbanites who want to work and play downtown, but don't want to pay for it. I say we RESIST.

I say we ask progressive Councillors to block every bad thing Ford plans to do. Let's make Mayor Idiot look like Mayor GRIDLOCK. Until he surrenders.... or explodes with frustration. And looks like even more of a jackass.

I say we join city workers in the streets during the strikes and protests that are sure to come. I say we stage mass bike rallies and let Ford know exactly what we think of him, by bringing lots of these.

It just seems so appropriate eh?

And above all I say we try to get progressive residents of the downtown and the suburbs to unite and form one mighty coalition to drive Ford and his Con rabble from power.

The statement of facts Khadr signed also says he would think back on his actions and the death of the American soldier when he was aggravated by his guards in Bagram, Afghanistan, and "it would make him feel good."

Dr. Welner's conclusions were reached, he explained, based largely on his understanding of the work of a psychiatrist in Copenhagen, Dr. Nicolai Sennels, who published a study of young Muslims in prison there. Although Welner admitted that he hadn't actually read Dr. Sennels's book because it was written in Danish, which Welner can't read.

He "expressed no interest in developing himself academically," said Welner, because when given U.S. schoolbooks - not classes, just books - he did not show much interest in reading them. Instead, he read Harry Potter, which Welner characterized as a form of "escapism."

The fact that Khadr is surrounded by all Muslim prisoners - a choice made by the U.S. military, not Omar Khadr -- is also a strike against him, said Welner. He's been "marinating in radical Jidahism," Welner said several times on Tuesday. Welner had not spoken to any of the other prisoners in Camp 4, and the source of his information about those prisoners and their beliefs was unclear.

Kafka.Or Dr Strangelove. Or just Dr Welner the inventor of the...um... Depravity Scale.

Because let me get this straight. They riddled this kid with shrapnel. Then shot him twice in the back.

They then tortured him, and locked him up in Guantanamo, and now because he spent so many years there, he's too dangerous to release?

Oh boy. Here we go again . For the record, Khadr's guards say he is a decent young man. Not a religious fanatic. He almost certainly did not throw any grenade because he was too badly wounded.

"Anti-abortion forces have succeeded in restricting the availability of abortion through lots of means short of outright prohibition — everything from punitive regulations... to physical intimidation and harassment of abortion providers,"

Well I see that the day after this grotesque right-wing bully became Mayor of Toronto, the right-wing media is going hog wild.

As if those who believe in a modern, more livable city were THE ENEMY. And the grubby uneducated and the boors bores from the suburbs were the future.

And nowhere in all the coverage do I see the word RACISM. When in fact that was the main reason Fordzilla won.

“We can’t even deal with the 2.5 million people. How are we going to welcome another million people in? It is going to be chaotic…. I think we have to say enough’s enough.”

For saying aloud what I hear so many in this city muttering to themselves.

While Premier Dalton McGuinty was lambasting Ford’s comments last month — “I just don’t think it’s representative of Canadians” — we now know that Ford was more in tune with Ontarians, for better or for worse. The latest Angus Reid poll shows opposition to the boat people is strongest in this province.

Because in Canada we like our bigotry DISCREET. And that includes new immigrants, who see other immigrants as competition for low paying jobs. And as the right-wing libertarian Tasha Kheiridin exults, see their new land as a jungle.

Newcomers to Toronto don’t have time to dwell on how to make Toronto “inclusive”. They aren’t interested in funding alternative art exhibits. They could care less about bicycle lanes. They are busy working night and day to feed their kids and put a roof over their heads. They don’t sympathize with “fair wage” policies that pay inflated prices to keep unions happy, at the expense of hard-working taxpayers like themselves.

And for many of these first generation immigrants, just like Ford's bigoted old white supporters, homophobia is a bonus.

And Ford never stopped reminding people that unlike Smitherman, he was married to a woman. With predictable results...

That's the main reason he won. And that's why I agree with Glen Murray.

Glen Murray, the minister of research and innovation and a former Winnipeg mayor, wrote in a post on his Twitter account on the weekend that “If u vote Ford u r voting for bigotry."

Even though Murray has now apologized.

Because there may be other reasons people voted for Ford. But nothing can change the cold hard fact.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I suppose it was inevitable. Even in the most diverse city on earth. When they got tired of attacking George Smitherman's policies, they'd go after his gay family

"Should Muslim vote for him who married a man?" the crudely designed signs read. Attached to the sign is a photograph of Smitherman and his husband Christopher Peloso, and a clipped newspaper headline referring to their adoption of a child.

And then there was that disgusting radio ad. You don't have to understand the language...

Rob Ford’s long-held belief in traditional marriage has exploded into a campaign issue now that he has endorsed the views of a fundamentalist Christian pastor who suggested online that same-sex marriage could “dismantle” a “healthy democratic civilization."

And here's the problem. Like many other lefty types I'd like to vote for Joe Pantalone. But unless his supporters switch their votes to George Smitherman, Ford will probably win.

Mayor Joe isn’t going to happen. He’s lost. A vote for him is a statement of principle they could make much more eloquently — and risk-free — with a blog, a Tweet or a letter to the editor explaining why they voted for their second choice.

So I'm with Jonathan Goldsbie:

“I am not a fan of strategic voting,” he wrote, “but neither am I a fan of regret and ridicule; I want to be able to live with myself for the next four years.”

Democracy is not soul food. Elections are not some romantic ideal designed to inspire potential voters. They are duke-outs for the reins of real power. They absolutely have consequences that affect us all, and they demand a healthy, critical rationality.

God save us from the electoral idealists who want you to "vote with your heart." Time after time, they are the right-wing’s secret weapon.

Because it's so true. Progressives need to get real. Stop picking the lint out of their navels, while the bad guys win.

Smitherman is a bit too right-wing for me. And I'm sorry Pantalone is not more popular. But anyone who thinks Smitherman is as bad as Ford is either a Con or an IDIOT.

George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Tony Blair, and a legion of other neocons should, if there was any justice, be charged with crimes against humanity.

And of course, if Stephen Harper had been Prime Minister, we would be wiping the blood and the shame off OUR hands.

"Mr. Speaker, the issue of war requires moral leadership. We believe the government should stand by our troops, our friends and our allies and do everything necessary to support them right through to victory."

Stephen Harper, supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, April 1, 2003.

And don't you love this one?

"This government's only explanation for not standing behind our allies is that they couldn't get the approval of the Security Council at the United Nations - a body [on] which Canada doesn't even have a seat."

Thursday, October 21, 2010

As if it wasn't bad enough that every time Stephen Harper answers a question in the House of Commons these days, he sounds like he's talking in tongues. All you can make out is the word COALITION. And this kind of insane gibberish.

"The real issue here raised by the Leader of the Opposition is his priorities,” the Prime Minister declared, carrying on quite demonstratively as if to warn the villagers of this monster’s imminent arrival. “He says that he would ground the Canadian Air Force. He says that he would put criminals out on the street. Why? In order to justify a bunch of tax increases he wants to bring on employers. That is the kind of thing that would put the Canadian economy into a deep ditch.”

Today we had the ugly spectacle of the Con stooge John "Screamer" Baird answering another reasonable question from Ignatieff like this.

The crudest response to Mr. Ignatieff’s questions in this regard was by now no doubt obvious, perhaps even inevitable. And though for a moment it seemed no one would dare say it, after a third and final question from the Liberal leader, Mr. Baird could apparently not contain himself.

“I am pleased to talk about the Liberals record on foreign takeovers,” he said. “I think they had a foreign takeover of the Liberal Party just last year.”

“The Conservative side loudly expressed its delight at this and, returned to his seat, Mr. Baird smirked with great self-satisfaction.

Great eh? Ignatieff as the foreigner, the outsider, the TRAITOR. Ha. Ha. Ha.

God fucking help us. What dark parallell universe are these sinister Cons inhabiting? Why are they oinking and defecating in OUR parliament? Why can't they answer a simple question? Why have we come to accept this?

And while we're at it, why does the CBC, which is funded by the Canadian people, not see fit to cover Question Period ? So more Canadians can see what these totalitarian hogs are doing to our country.

Oh well. Best line of the day from Scott Brison:

“Does Canada not deserve better, than a finance minister who cannot add and a Prime Minister who can only divide?”

Good question. Too bad so few heard it. Thank goodness for Aaron Wherry.

As for those Cons...I can only conclude that they have added yet another step to the bizarre way they prepare for Question Period...as detailed in Lawrence Martin's new book.

First they all kiss Great Ugly Leader's ass reverentially....on both chubby cheeks. Then they pray for victory over the godless foreigners. Then they memorize their lines as prepared for them by the thugs in the PMO.

Then they take out their secret weapon. Tongues for Dummies.

And start brushing it up on it.

Like these guys...

And if you thought Stephen Harper and John Baird sound ghastly talking in tongues eh?

Just wait until you hear Vic Toews talking about those dangerous refugees.

Which is why I'm so amused to see that those who created the biggest fuss over the awards last year, are the ones most eager to be nominated this year.

But who really cares eh?

If it was a serious contest, where the nominees were chosen by a jury of other eminent bloggers, it might be worth something. But it's not. It's just a popularity contest where those who win have the most Facebook friends.

And besides I can never forget how two years ago, when I was nominated, a friend told me he wanted to vote for me, but couldn't because somebody had used his office computer to vote for somebody else.

Oh sure, I guess the "contest" does serve some purpose by introducing me to some blogs I'd never heard of before. But like most other Canadian awards, it's usually the same people nominated over and over again.

Who then bombard us with posts BEGGING us to vote for them, because they need to show us how much better they are than the rest of us. How annoying.

Or how BORING.

And as far as self promotion goes, well I don't call my dog Kerouac for nothing.

You know just do it eh? Write as honestly as possible, and leave it at that. If people want to read you they will, and if they don't too bad.

After 1,775 posts, all of them written by me, if I depended on the encouragement of others, I would have quit long ago.

Which reminds me, you don't think there is something we can do something about cross posting do you?

So two identical posts from some blogging conglomerates, don't force two other humbler ones into the blogging basement, before we have a chance to read them.

No. I didn't think so.

Oh well. To all the other bloggers out there who didn't make the short list, don't be discouraged, because it doesn't mean ANYTHING.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Now that it appears the Harper Cons are going to buy more of these F-35 fighters than Britain.

Future prospects for the F-35 joint strike fighter program got a lot murkier Tuesday after British government officials announced plans to delay and dramatically trim their purchases of the warplane from Lockheed Martin.

Even though they are way too expensive, we don't really need them. The only reason the Cons want to spend so much money is so they can pump up the deficit, and use it as an excuse to kill medicare.

The 2006 agreement for developing the controversial F-35 stealth fighter jets contains a withdrawal clause that would allow a new government to end Canada's participation with no penalties and appears to contradict the government's claim that Canadian firms involved up to now would suffer.

Maybe it's time to seriously consider other options. And other planes.

The most likely avenue of attack from the air on Canada today is not from a lumbering Bear bomber, but rather a small privately owned commercial aircraft. The American Norad commander, Admiral James Winnefeld, recently called for aircraft that can fly "low and slow" in order to counter this threat; "F-16s don't fly slow very well," he said. The same could be said of the F-35.

A turboprop aircraft like Embraer's "Super Tucano" or Beechcraft's AT-6B (whose engines are manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada in Nova Scotia) would easily fit this bill. At roughly $6-million per copy, we could outfit the air force with 10 times the number of airframes.

Just months before the Harper government announced it would spend an estimated $16-billion on new fighter jets, a report for the Defence Department recommended using “flocking” pilot-less drones to enforce Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic.

And BTW, if anyone thinks that pilotless aircraft are not the future of military aviation.

On a day when hundreds of thousands of people in Canada and the United States answer the call of a Canadian teen to wear purple.

The event, called Spirit Day is the brainchild of Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan. The 16-year-old suggested the color purple for a reason. “Purple represents spirit on the LGBTQ flag, and that’s exactly what we’d like everyone to take with them today,” she says.

The idea took off. More than a million Facebook users have pledged to wear purple today. McMillan says that “we will wear purple in memory of the recent gay suicides. Many of them suffered from homophobic abuse in their schools or in their homes. We want to take a stand to say that we will not tolerate this.”

With all the stories about bullying in the news recently I couldn't help thinking how would I react, if I was a dad, and one of my kids was being bullied.Because it would drive me crazy. I hate bullies of all ages, but seeing a happy child turning into a sad, withdrawn one, and feeling helpless to do anything about it, must be one of the worst feelings in the world.

Which is another reason, the whole idea of parenthood...which my mother loves so much... makes me feel faint.

And besides as if bullying wasn't bad enough, I recently saw the Swedish film Patrik Age 1.5. Where two gay men think they are adopting a baby.

Only to end up parenting a 15-year-old homophobic juvenile delinquent.

And although the film had a happy ending, I was practically traumatized eh?

But if Seb and I ever adopted a kid. And it's NEVER going to happen Mum.

I hope that we'd be as cool as these amazing parents and their little princess boy...

Because every little boy and girl should be allowed to be who they are. And if there were more great parents like that, the world would be a happier place.

Except that as much as I loved that gentle video, I couldn't help thinking how are they going to protect that kid from the bullies who would DESTROY him?

So all I can say is, I won't be a daddy. Because you have to be very special to be a good one. And I won't wearing purple today.

Because I don't own anything that colour.

But I will remember those dead kids, the children who are suffering in our Canadian schools. And that gentle little princess boy.